Kirk Richard Cazee

The Oregon Court of Appeals has overturned the convictions of a Surf Pines man who was found guilty of several charges tied to “peeping Tom” incidents in his neighborhood.

Kirk Richard Cazee, 59, was sentenced to more than 35 years in prison in 2018 after a Circuit Court jury found him guilty of peering through bedroom windows and recording videos of residents during private moments. He was convicted on six counts of using a child in a display of sexual conduct, eight counts of invasion of personal privacy, five counts of stalking and four counts of criminal trespass.

The appeals court found that there was not probable cause to obtain a search warrant for Cazee’s cellphone because no one ever saw him holding a cellphone or using one during his crimes.

Over 7,200 photographs and 70 videos, including some of teenage girls engaging in sexual activity, were found on Cazee’s cellphone. More warrants were obtained after the evidence from the cellphone was discovered, which led to more incriminating evidence.

The Court of Appeals ruled that Judge Dawn McIntosh should have granted Cazee’s attempts to suppress that evidence. The appeals court also found that the judge should have granted a motion for judgment of acquittal on the six counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.

District Attorney Ron Brown said that without the evidence from Cazee’s cellphone, the prosecution is unable to corroborate the victims’ statements to find him guilty of the crimes. He plans to move to dismiss the case.

Brown expressed frustration with the appeals court’s opinion, and also the state Department of Justice for not appealing the decision to the Oregon Supreme Court.

“It’s one thing to take a case to trial and the jury decides that the evidence isn’t there, at least you got your shot, your day in court, your chance to argue it,” he said. “But when you lose it on appeal like that and they just gut the entire case …

“I feel particularly for the victims and the cops because they worked their tails off and we’ve got nothing to show for it. We got three years in prison to show for it, but we don’t have any criminal convictions to show for it.

“I still think it was a good search. I still think it was a good prosecution, and I’m just astounded by the outcome.”

Cazee’s attorney, Andy Simrin, chose not to comment.

There is still a pending federal case against Cazee that was filed following his trial in 2018.

He was indicted in U.S. District Court in Portland on six counts of production of child pornography, two counts of transportation of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.